Needham & Company LLC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) Stock Price

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) had its price target cut by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $150.00 to $120.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the Internet television network’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target points to a potential upside of 43.64% from the stock’s current price.

Several other analysts also recently commented on NFLX. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Netflix in a report on Wednesday. Arete Research increased their price target on shares of Netflix from $83.30 to $108.40 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Netflix in a report on Monday, December 29th. KeyCorp set a $110.00 target price on Netflix and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “positive” rating and set a $103.00 target price (down previously from $140.00) on shares of Netflix in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-three have assigned a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Netflix has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.36.

Netflix Stock Down 2.1%

NFLX stock opened at $83.54 on Wednesday. Netflix has a 1-year low of $81.93 and a 1-year high of $134.12. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $96.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.60. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $353.99 billion, a PE ratio of 33.06 and a beta of 1.71.

Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 20th. The Internet television network reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.01. Netflix had a return on equity of 43.26% and a net margin of 24.30%.The business had revenue of $12.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.6% on a year-over-year basis. Netflix has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.760-0.760 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Netflix will post 24.58 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Bradford L. Smith sold 31,790 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.86, for a total transaction of $2,824,859.40. Following the sale, the director owned 79,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,081,253.40. This represents a 28.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cletus R. Willems sold 2,380 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.03, for a total value of $261,878.54. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 1,653,599 shares of company stock valued at $173,141,263 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BG Investment Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Netflix during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $338,000. Sava Infond d.o.o. raised its stake in shares of Netflix by 25.1% during the second quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. now owns 1,495 shares of the Internet television network’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Boomfish Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Netflix during the second quarter worth $398,000. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Netflix by 1.2% during the second quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 57,951 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $77,604,000 after purchasing an additional 664 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of Netflix by 71.1% in the second quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 234,831 shares of the Internet television network’s stock worth $314,469,000 after purchasing an additional 97,622 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.93% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Netflix

Here are the key news stories impacting Netflix this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat and subscriber momentum — Netflix narrowly beat estimates for Q4 revenue and EPS and highlighted strong content (e.g., “Stranger Things”) driving engagement. Helped by ‘Stranger Things’ finale, Netflix lands strong fourth quarter
• Positive Sentiment: Scale: ~325 million paid subscribers — reinforces Netflix’s dominant user base and revenue runway. 325 Million Reasons to Buy Netflix Stock Today
• Positive Sentiment: Ad business is ramping — management said advertising revenue is material and growing, improving monetization beyond subscriptions. Netflix’s advertising strategy shift is starting to pay off
• Neutral Sentiment: All‑cash WBD bid — Netflix amended its offer to all cash (same headline price), which removes share‑swap uncertainty but concentrates the financing burden on Netflix. Netflix Just Upped Its Bid for Warner Bros. to All Cash
• Neutral Sentiment: Regulatory and process uncertainty — EU antitrust review and an active competing bid from Paramount raise the odds of a prolonged, uncertain outcome. EU to weigh Netflix, Paramount bids for Warner Bros at the same time
• Neutral Sentiment: Senate hearing on the WBD deal — co‑CEO Ted Sarandos is set to testify, adding political/regulatory visibility to the transaction. Netflix’s Sarandos to testify in Senate hearing on Warner deal
• Negative Sentiment: Softer near‑term guidance — Q1/2026 guidance came in below some Street expectations, which triggered the post‑earnings selloff despite the quarter’s beat. Netflix’s stock remains under pressure as investors balk at forecast and Warner Bros. acquisition
• Negative Sentiment: Buyback pause and added debt — Netflix paused share repurchases to preserve cash for the WBD offer and has arranged incremental debt, reducing near‑term shareholder returns and increasing leverage. Netflix Craters On Disappointing Guidance, Stock Buyback Pause
• Negative Sentiment: Margin pressure and higher content spend — Netflix plans to lift program spending, which could compress margins in 2026 even if it supports engagement. Netflix to boost program spending in 2026
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst target trims and insider selling — multiple firms trimmed targets after the print and insiders have been net sellers, adding to negative sentiment around valuation and capital allocation. These Analysts Slash Their Forecasts On Netflix Following Q4 Earnings

About Netflix

Netflix, Inc (NASDAQ: NFLX) is a global entertainment company that provides subscription-based streaming of films, television series, documentaries and other video content. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph and headquartered in Los Gatos, California, the company began as a DVD-by-mail rental service and introduced streaming video in 2007. Netflix later expanded into producing and distributing original programming, beginning notable original hits in the 2010s, and now operates a content production and distribution ecosystem alongside its licensing activity.

The company’s primary product is its on-demand streaming service, which can be accessed on a wide range of internet-connected devices and delivered through a suite of apps and web platforms.